April Art Challenge - Flux Capacitor

It has been a long, long time since I've done any Trek art, but I was intrigued by the theme this month. Since I don't have much in the way of 3D modeling or scene creation experience, I utilized some high quality Bridge Commander models and some composting work. I tried to give a look at a famous scene from a perspective we never saw. I was going for kind of a painted/faded film look.

I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

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Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

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Thank you. I was under the impression that I didn't need to spell out the context when it relates to one of the most storied films in the franchise this entire site is about. I would imagine that with the lighting and the fact that one ship is clearly attacking the other, even an uninitiated viewer could tell who the aggressor is.

I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Click to expand...

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

Click to expand...

Bad analogy. I knew what Flux had in mind. I just didn't think the image was a good fit for the theme.

I'd go for an image that even a casual fan would get. The other entry would be understood even by some of those who don't follow Trek. I'm gonna bet many casual viewers who have seen several movies and watched some episodes once in a while won't get Flux's entry.

I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Click to expand...

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

Click to expand...

Fine, so let's put it in context as Star Trek fans.

In this context, Reliant herself isn't the beast. The beast is the genetically engineered a-hole that hijacked her. Do you see an image of Khan anywhere? No. Do you see any of his crew? No. What you see here is one Federation Starship firing on (but not yet hitting) another Federation Starship, and, I reiterate, two contemporaneous Federation Starships alone in one shot does not provide enough contrast to name one "Beauty" and one "Beast", no matter how much red lighting you add.

The point is I'm not gonna judge an piece of photoshopped art based on who posts and votes here. It'd be like Egbert giving two thumbs to a movie based on a small of people who go to see it and likes it when everybody else didn't see it.

I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Click to expand...

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

Click to expand...

Fine, so let's put it in context as Star Trek fans.

In this context, Reliant herself isn't the beast. The beast is the genetically engineered a-hole that hijacked her. Do you see an image of Khan anywhere? No. Do you see any of his crew? No. What you see here is one Federation Starship firing on (but not yet hitting) another Federation Starship, and, I reiterate, two contemporaneous Federation Starships alone in one shot does not provide enough contrast to name one "Beauty" and one "Beast", no matter how much red lighting you add.

Click to expand...

I got what the image was the second I saw it.

The Enterprise\Reliant battle is probably the most well known Star Trek battle ever. You don't need to see Khan. We're on a Star Trek board and the Fan Art section is populated by people who are so enthralled by Star Trek that they feel compelled to make art about it. The people visiting Fan Art love the show enough to view amateur artwork based on Star Trek. It's safe to say they got what Flux was going for here.